Travelers Welcome

Travelers Welcome

Thursday, February 2, 2012

CENTERFOLD

by Alan S. Kleiman
 
But I’m usually more shy
I don’t centerfold regularly
I don’t centerfold happily
I centerfolded only a time or two my whole life
And I wasn’t thrilled centerfolding at all.


Shyness doesn’t mean you are shy
it doesn’t mean you want to die
or hide from each face
like a butterfly.

It doesn’t mean you are timid
looking
or speak with a quiet sound
or laugh only when laughed at
or sing when the voice is laryngitis hoarse
when even a cry won’t sound.

Shy’s when inside you’re scared
and say truth to yourself
never
When you must be shy
because pain bars the doors.

Even a fire in the stables
won’t let the horse escape.
Burn before leaving
Put water in a dish left outside the stall
and think it will hold back the flames.

Only water will lash the storms
of rage, the visions of self
crashing the rocky shore
Hard.

The dish won’t burn,
like the burning bush, truth
won’t escape. Flames
won’t lick the dew off grass or upper lip.
Stand tall
Remember
Duty has no meaning in a colored light
Shifting sands mean everything.

23 comments:

  1. This poem strikes me deeply. It uses a lighthearted image to begin a journey behind the masks we often wear -- the fears that can keep us in bondage, chained within ourselves, even when the flames are rising all around. Thanks for this revealing Centerfold. An excellent poem.

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  2. Congrats Ace! Great work my friend
    ~ginam

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  3. lovely.. and true.

    I was a shy kid and nver could figure out why that made some grown ups think I was timid. (my family knew better! lol) I just hated being visible.

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  4. A wonderful poem. Very beautiful, shyness .... You can stop being shy? I do not know, at any time and when you least expect it, shyness comes over and makes an appearance .... Thanks Ace.CGM-

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  5. The Centerfold will unfold when we choose to experience beyond our comfort zone....
    hmmm....let me see...OK...stand before a mirror and view the mirror on the wall behind..there you will see the reality of infinity...we only have choice...and are all alone...so ?

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  6. I very very beautiful poem Ace!!!

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  7. beautifully penned and the profound message in the last stanza really spoke to me, these two lines in particular--

    Duty has no meaning in a colored light
    Shifting sands mean everything.

    Bravo Ace, nicely done.

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  8. Dearest Alan! Who or what inspired you about this poem? You're a real poet, and I admire your verbal expression and the power of your poems! BB

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  9. It was very moving, do you live in that pain?

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  10. LOVELYYY FOR THESE ANIMALS TOO!!! In Brazil, there take tourist on the dunes in NORTHERN...Let me see acquaint of!!! superb!!! good idea!!!@@

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  11. Wonderful poem, Ace. A lot of young people are shy,I was very shy, wanting to be grown up, they all seemed so sure of themselves.

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  12. "Even a fire in the stables
    won’t let the horse escape.
    Burn before leaving
    Put water in a dish left outside the stall
    and think it will hold back the flames."

    I haven't read a more precise description of the shy's thought. i see myself on these five lines, and the consequences I've lived because of this way of thinking. The chains, terrible chains that paralize the mind....sometimes. Striking. Thank you dear Ace.
    G

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  13. Excellent poem, keep saying truth to yourself and share it with others, don't be "shy"

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  14. killing me softly with his song..

    sorry about the bike.

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  15. Fear closes the door of the heart to express one's own True Essence. I was so shy as a child that my father thought I did not know how to speak or that something developmentally was wrong with me. However, caged birds do indeed sing- even if the song of Truth is held deep inside.
    Powerful Ace... :) Keep writing your Truths my friend.

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  16. Beautiful poem and Camel Alan! So deeply narrate and great story! I like The Camel Saloon...

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  17. Nice poem and your Camel Alan! From: Janah

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  18. A true poem. You captured what's often vague and held it down; made it real.

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  19. Ace, I was moved by your poem. I could feel myself holding my breath wondering what each next stanza would hold. Well done my friend!

    Kristine Kenyon

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  20. Wonderful, Ace!

    Francesca

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  21. I have read your work before and plumbed the depths of meaning but this poem has a caliber all of its own, it speaks to me in my own ways. It touches the soul, yo have great mastery with words and the way you paint with them.

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  22. It just really sounds like you are at war with yourself here, that you did indeed centerfold (in the crashing) water, but that truth has not preserved you. The shifting sands do not compare to the small dish of truth--water.

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